Wire fence.



No. 67l,6l2. Patented Apr. 9, I90l. A. J. RUSSELL & W. 0. EAKRIGHT.

W B E F E N G E (Application filed Oct. 29 1900.)

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ANDREW J. RUSSELL, OF AUBURN, AND WVILLIAM O. EAKRIGHT, OF BUTLER, INDIANA.

WIRE FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 671,612, dated. April 9, 1901. Application filed October 29, 1900. Serial No- 34,837. (No model.)

To all whmn it may concern.-

Be it known that we, ANDREW J. RUssELL, residing at Auburn, and WILLIAM O. EAK- RIGHT, residing at Butler, in the county of Dekalb and State of Indiana, citizens of the United States, have invented a new and useful Wire Fence, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to Wire fences, and has for its object to provide an improved lock or fastening device for connecting the wire pickets or stays to the intersecting runnerwires of the fence. It is furthermore designed to provide for the application of the present device without requiring the employment of specially-constructed tools, so that the fence may be conveniently built in the field.

With these and other objects in view the present invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter described, shown in the accompanying drawings, and particularly pointed out in the appended claims, it being understood that changes in the form, proportion, size, and minor details may be made within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation of a portion of a wire fence constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a detail elevation looking at the opposite side of the fence. Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view showing one of the locking-plates securing intersected wires. Fig. 4 is a detail sectional elevation of the device.

Like characters of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the figures of the drawings.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, 1 designates the runner-wires of an ordinary wire fence, and 2 the wire pickets or stays that intersect the runner-wires at substantially right angles thereto.

In carrying out the present invention there is provided a plurality of fiat metal plates 3, preferably circular in shape and provided with a central opening 4 of suitable size, according to the size of the Wires comprising the fence. A single locking plate is employed at each intersection of the runner and stay wires, so that the central opening may come opposite the point of intersection. Then a substantially U-shaped or two pronged fastening or staple 5 is inserted through the central opening of the locking-disk and from the opposite side of the fence, so as to straddle the intersection of the fence-Wires, after which the opposite ends of the staple-fastening are upset against the adjacent face of the plate, as indicated at 6. The upsetting operation may be conveniently accomplished by placing an ax, stone, or other suitable implement against the rounded head of the staple, then separating the ends of said fastening, and finally by striking the ends with a hammer or the like until the ends have been fiattened out against the plate and the staple drawn tightly upon the intersected fencewires, thereby drawing the latter firmly together and securely interlocking all of the parts against accidental separation.

It will be observed that the opposite ends of the staple-fastening are located at opposite sides of the stay 2 and also at opposite sides of the runner-wire, while each end portion lies substantially midway between the adjacent angularly-related portions of the runner-wire and the stay. The ends of the fastening preferably project beyond the peripheral edge of the locking-plate, so as to form convenient barbs. Moreover, the staywire lies within the back of the loop of the staple, and the runner-wire crosses the stay between the latter and the plate, whereby the prongs of the staple lie in contact with opposite sides of the runner, so that when the end portions of the prongs are separated and bent over the edge of the opening in the plate the inner end portions of the prongs are also bent laterally inward in opposite directions, and as these portions lie in engagement with the runner thelatter is bent or kinked in opposite directions, thereby interlocking the parts in a rigid embrace, the stay remaining unaffected, as the inwardly-bent portions of the prongs do not touch the stay. The plate is also bent diametrically along the line of the bent end portions of the prongs, whereby the plate is held rigidly against accidental turning.

From the foregoing description it will be apparent that the locking-plate and the staple are applied from opposite sides of the fence, so as to embrace the fence-wires between the parts of the lock. Also it does not require any particularly-constructed tools for applying the device, as an ax and a hammer will be found sufficient. In view of the simplicity of the device it may be employed for building fences in the field Without requiring the use of skilled labor. Should it be desired to replace a broken or damaged picket, the

ends of the staples may be conveniently drawn together, so as to facilitate the removal of both the fastening and the locking-plate without interfering with the runner-wires, and thus freeing the stay or picket, which may be conveniently replaced with the same intersecting at substantially right angles, a

perforate plate applied to one side of the fence with its perforation opposite one of the intersections of the Wires, and a two-pronged fastening applied from the opposite side of the fence, the prongs being inserted through the opening in the plate and straddling the wires, and having their outer ends separated and upset snugly against the plate, whereby the inner end portions of the prongs are bent laterally inward in opposite direct-ions between the back of the fastening and the edge of the perforation of the plate, and the wire which is next to the plate is bent or kinked laterally in opposite directions by the inwardly-bent portions of the respective prongs.

2; In a wire fence, the combination with a vertical stay, and a horizontal runner intersecting the stay, of a perforate plate applied to the runner side of the fence, with its perforation opposite the intersection of the runner and the stay, and a substantially U- shaped fastening having two prongs only, which are inserted through the perforation in the plate from the stay side of the fence and straddling the intersection of the stay and the runner, the stay lying in the back of the staple, and the prongs thereof lying in engagement with opposite sides of the runner,

the outer end portions of the prongs being separated and upset snugly against the plate, and having their outer extremities projected outwardly beyond the outward marginal edge of the plate forming barbs, the inner end portions of the prongs being bent laterally inward between the back of the staple and the inner marginal edge of the plate, and the runner being kinked or bent laterally in opposite directions at opposite sides of the stay by the inward bending of the prongs that lie in contact therewith.

In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

ANDREW J. RUSSELL. WILLIAM O. EAKRIGHT. Witnesses:

JAMES R. WILSON, ROBBERT L. DOWELL. 

